44 http://www.militaryvehiclesmagazine.com
camper on it? That’s mine and it’s a three on the tree.”
He shrugged and took my papers. He told me, “We will have
you take the driver’s test and see how you do.” We went out the
back of the building and walked to an old Ford pick-up (much
like the ones I saw at the PMO).
We got in, and I drove a course outlined by orange traffi c
cones. I drove around, up and down, and forward and backwards.
After some parallel parking, it was back to the back to the start
line. I did not kill anybody or run over any cones, so I fi gured I
did alright.
We went back into the building and the tester disappeared
into a back offi ce. While I waited, I asked the other men there
how long the class lasted. They said it could be a week or two
depending on how many were in the class and their abilities.
When the man came out of the offi ce, I asked when the class
would start. He said, “It doesn’t.” He handed me my papers that
were stamped, “Passed,” and a wallet-size driver’s license card.
I went back to the PMO offi ce and checked in. They said,
“What are you doing back here?” I replied, “You said come back
when I had my license.” I gave them my papers and showed them
my license. They gave me dumb looks.
The down-side of this was, as a driver, I had the work a lot
of extra shifts and double shifts when we were short drivers or
needed all trucks on the road. Since I could drive all of the trucks
we had, I often got the oldest junkers.
Once, I had to do an emergency run across the base in sec-
ond gear because I did not have time to stop and un-jam the
linkage in an old Ford. Another time, I was dispatched to a bar-
racks where a Marine was having seizures. An ambulance was
dispatched, but only one Corpsman — the driver. The Corpsman
said he needed to be in the back with the patient and asked if
anyone was licensed to drive an emergency vehicle. I said, “I am
an MP, so who is going to say anything if I drive?” I drove the
ambulance with lights and siren to the hospital. If I recall cor-
rectly, it was a stretched Pontiac.
AN OLD MARINE LOOKS AROUND THE HOBBY
In January 2019, I attended the Arizona Military Vehicle
Collector Show in Tempe, Arizona. There, in the shade of all that
OD iron, was a 1965 short-bed, step-side, half-ton Ford pick-up
with a shiny new Navy gray paint job. There were no markings
on it. The sign on the window indicated that it was ex-Navy. It
was the image of the trucks I drove as an MP — except it was
far better looking with a fresh paint job. I was pleased to see how
much attention it got in comparison to all the olive drab vehicles
at the show.
This brings me to my current project. I have been working
on a M38A1 for some time, but I wanted an older pick-up that
would be simple and easy to work on. I decided I wanted an old
Jeep pick-up like I had in high school or an old Dodge Power
Wagon.
I spend two to three years looking and came close twice to
buying a Jeep pick-up before the deals fell through. Finally,
while looking at a Power Wagon web site, I spotted a 1964 W300
Power Wagon with a fl at bed up in Montana. What made it more
interesting was that it was an ex-Air Force telephone repair truck.
It was still in Air Force blue with the markings on the doors!
I made some calls to get information on it and wanted to go
up to see it, but it was the middle of winter. I tried to go see it in
February, but hit snow in Wyoming and had to turn back.
It was May before I had a chance to go see it. I drove it
around the man’s ranch and up and down his mile-long drive
way. It rattled and shook and reminded me of a WC-53 I drove
from Ohio to Texas a long time ago. One thing I realized was
that I was not going to try to drive it back home to Colorado! It
needed lots of work, but most of the things I could do.
The dash board instrument panel on this truck is interest-
ing. It is not the civilian-style but has all military-style, round
gauges. The round speedometer is just like a Jeep and only goes
to 60 MPH.
The main issues with the truck were the missing utility bed,
winch, and brush guard. I returned home to think it over and con-
tinued to have discussions with the owner about the truck. I told
him I did not want the bed that was on it. It was oversized and not
right for the truck. He said he would be happy to take it off. He
could use it on something else. Then he said he could check with
the rancher he bought the truck from to see if any parts were still
at the ranch. When he called back some time later, he informed
me that they were not able to fi nd the bed or the winch, but they
did discover the brush guard hanging in the barn.
I thought I could do without the winch. I could look for one
in the future. I had leads on some possible beds that would fi t this
truck’s nine foot frame. I was glad they found the brush guard,
since I did not know were I might get one and do not have the
skill or equipment to make one. In fact, fi nding the brush guard